How to Bleach Sheets Safely

Only bleach white sheets.

Though bleach can effectively and efficiently whiten your white sheets, it gives off toxic fumes that can cause damage if you don't take the proper precautions. For this reason, always ventilate a room and protect your skin to ensure that you don't irritate your lungs or your hands. Use a bleach alternative if you are very concerned about bleach safety.

Things You'll Need

• Gloves
• Apron

Instructions

1. Put on gloves to protect your hands from bleach. This will protect your skin from irritation if you happen to spill bleach on it.

2. Put on an apron or clothes that you don't mind damaging. Bleach removes color from most fabrics and it will ruin your clothes if you accidentally spill bleach on them.

3. Open a window or door in your laundry room to properly ventilate the area while you are using bleach. Bleach fumes can irritate your skin, eyes and lungs.

4. Fill your washing machine with water.

5. Add 3/4 cup bleach to the water and close the lid to allow the machine to mix the bleach fully into the water. This will allow for even bleaching.

6. Put the sheets in the water and close the lid. Launder the sheets as normal, but use the longest rinse cycle possible or rinse the sheets twice. This will remove the bleach residue, which can wear holes in sheets if it stays there.

7. Dry the sheets as you normally would.

Tips & Warnings

• Store bleach in an area that is not accessible to children or pets. Always tighten the child-safe cap to further protect your family from accidental ingestion.

• Store the bleach in a cool area out of direct sunlight.

• Never mix bleach with ammonia or use bleach to clean sheets that have recently been cleaned with ammonia. When the two chemicals mix, they create a toxic gas.

References

• Clorox: Whitening Laundry and Removing Stains
• Health and Safety Executive: Safe Use of Cleaning Chemicals in the Hospitality Industry
• Minnesota Department of Health; Disaster Quick Tips: Using Bleach; March 2011